Why the Lexus IS-F is a Bad Choice

At first glance, the Lexus IS-F appears to be awould otherwise blend in, stand out, like the Honda
very appealing car. It offers up the 420 hp that itCivic for example. They put spoilers, lips, body
needs to compete with the BMW M3, Audi RS4kits and other such personalizations on these cars
and Mercedes C63 AMG, but it also offersand modify them in every possible way.
something that the Germans don't... the promiseAs you can probably understand, that group of
of reliability.people is very different from the group of people
Anyone who has owned a German car knowsthat can afford cars that are $55,000 or more.
about the electrical problems, the expensiveThese people are usually a good twenty years
repairs, expensive service etc. Personally, Iolder, which means, they never saw the J-pop
wonder, what is it that we're paying for (likephenomenon to begin with, certainly didn't latch on
Audi's special blend of antifreeze) if it fails moreto it in their 40s or 50s. The problem is that
often than the Japanese parts? That question isLexus head honchos don't seem to get this.
easily answered most of the time with a quickEverything about the IS-F is geared towards the
drive. German cars feel solid and connected toJ-pop crowd, from its styling (with the outlandish
the road, where generally, most Japanese carsbody kit to the colors). On the inside, there's too
don't (to the same extent). Even "sporty"much video gameyness. Granted, that
Japanese cars like the 370Z can be exhilarating,20something Temple of VTEC crowd will look up
but lack the high-speed stability.to it and relate to the Gran Turismo feel of it all,
Apart from the 370Z and maybe the G37 coupe,but how many of those will actually buy it?
there aren't too many fun-to-drive Japanese carsAnd therein lies the problem. If Lexus wants to
today. That's why the IS-F seems to be the idealestablish itself as a credible competitor to BMW's
combination of German muscle car and JapaneseM brand or even Mercedes' AMG sub-brand, then
reliability. But as you most likely gathered fromthey have to realize that no one who will actually
the title, where does it all go wrong?consider a car in this class will want to be seen in
It all went wrong from the design stage of thethe IS-F. It's just plain embarrassing. They need to
car. The IS250 and IS350 are cars that are pricedoffer a manual transmission and/or SMG option,
fairly low, or looking at it another way, at the topand focus more on function than form.
end of the market that young people would buyUntil then, the IS-F also falls short in balance and
in. These are the same young people that lovehandling, ride quality and overall thrills in comparison
the J-pop culture, the Japanese car tuning, theto the BMW M3.
Type R crowd. They have made certain cars that